Blue plaque review series: Dr. Florence Buchanan: A trailblazing physiologist in an era of barriers and breakthroughs.

What do Charles Darwin, T.H. Huxley, August Krogh and Charles Sherrington have in common? Florence Buchanan - a name history has unjustly dimmed but never erased. Her academic lineage is a direct thread through the titans of biology: E. Ray Lankester mentored her after being shaped by Huxley, Darwin's celebrated protégé. Buchanan's early career flourished under the mentorship of John Scott Burdon-Sanderson, but it was as an independent scientist that she collaborated with Nobel laureates Krogh and Sherrington, cementing her place among the greatest physiologists of her era. While accolades marked her career - a doctor of science, prestigious fellowships and groundbreaking publications - her path was anything but easy. As the first woman to attend meetings of The Physiological Society, she broke barriers but faced systemic exclusions, barred from The Society's dinners where scientific relationships were forged. Buchanan's meticulous experiments revealed muscles' intrinsic electrical rhythms and reshaped how physiology understands the neural control of the heart. Though her contributions were celebrated in her time, they were often overshadowed by her male colleagues. Who was this trailblazer whose scientific rigor and resilience quietly shaped modern physiology?